Fireplace box



S. J. CHAPLA FIREPLACE BOX July 15, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 'Jan. 25, 1956 a v u T a LA B A v U W A v 3 4 Flllw w A v 4 fl' M 4 v w v G 2 STEVE J. CHAPLA k). WM

July 15, 1958 s. J. CHAPLA 2,843,109

FIREPLACE BOX 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 23, 1956 INVENTOR.

' STEVE J. CHAPLA United States Patent FIREPLACE BOX Steve J. Chapla, Elkhart, Ind., assignor of one-tenth to Gadget-Of-The-Month Club, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif, a corporation of California Application January 23, 1956, Serial No. 560,568

2 Claims. (Cl. 126-165) This invention relates to fireplace and hearth equipment and more particularly to a firebox adapted to tilt upwardly above the hearthto facilitate emptying and removing the ashes therefrom.

Anyone who has used a small conventional fireplace, such as is found in the average home, has experienced difiiculty in building and maintaining good fires mainly because the firewood must be supported only by a pair of parallel andirons; and, conversely, anyone attempting to overcome this difliculty by using a box-like or basket type of grated enclosure to contain the fire has experienced the diificulties involved in extracting the ashes from the gratings of the firebox and cleaning the hearth beneath the firebox.

Even when the fireplace hearth is fitted with an ash dump or trap door opening into'space below, the ashes must be removed from the box and pushed through the trap or, when no box is used, it is necessary to burrow through the pile of ashes accumulated on the hearth, open the trap in the center of the pile, then push the ashes into the opening.

No combination of presently available equipment and fireplace construction solves the difficulties and awkwardness attendant upon the use of the average fireplace, and it was with these considerations in mind that I have made the present invention. It can be said to have a number of important objectives.

One important object of this invention is the provision of a device for supporting a fire at an optimal elevation above the surface of the hearth.

Another important object of my invention is the provision of a device adapted for supporting a fire and having means by which it may be emptied quickly of the accumulated residual material therein without soiling the hands or clothing.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the character described and being adapted with means by which it may be raised to leave the surface of the hearth entirely clear for removal of the ashes with a shovel and bucket or by pushing them into the aperture of an ash receiving compartment.

A still further important object of my invention is the provision of a device of the character described which, although self supporting, may be used with conventional andirons which form a part of an ensemble of hearth equipment or are desired for decorative reasons.

An additional important object of my invention is the provision of a device of the nature set forth above and adapted with means by which it is self-emptying when raised and is also easily removable for thorough cleaning or replacement.

In brief, my invention consists of a tiltable firebox including a container assembly having a generally horizontal grated bottom tapered in general conformity to the contour of fireplace interior, an upright panel with leg members downwardly extended therefrom, and a pair of diagonally disposed upright side sections attached to the bottom and the front panel and having holes in their upper inwardly disposed corners adapted to receive journal sections of a transverse pivot bar which in turn is rigidly supported by a pair of socketal bracket members fixedly attached to the sidewalls of the fireplace. Completing the container assembly is a back section which is disposed vertically and fixedly attached to the transverse pivot bar between the journal sections so that it is maintained in a vertical position when the rest of the container assembly including its pair of frontal legs, is raised upwardly above the surface of the hearth. The resulting aperture between the tilted bottom and the vertical back permits the ashes to fall through onto the surface of the hearth. Locking means are provided to hold the container assembly in the upwardly tilted position adjacent the throat of the chimney while the hearth is being cleaned.

Various additional objects of my invention will become apparent in the following description of one preferred embodiment when it is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational diagrammatic view of a fireplace having a fire containing device constructed according to my invention installed therein;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the same device showing the manner in which it is secured inwardly of the fireplace;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Figures 1 and 2 as seen in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the fireplace taken along the same line as in Figure 3, showing the fire containing device locked in the upwardly tilted position;

Figure 5 is a vertical section through the pivot bar taken along the line 55 in Figure 2, and showing in frontal elevation a side attachment plate as it would appear from the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a frontal elevational view similar to that of Figure 5 showing an alternate attachment plate fitted with laterally extended lugs by which it is welded to the side of a metal lined fireplace; and

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic plan view showing an extension fitting used to extend the pivot bar according to the width of the fireplace.

Reference is again made to the frontal elevation in Figure 1 showing a fire container constructed according to my invention the front panel of which is designated by the numeral 10 supported by the two legs 11 and 12 resting upon the upper surface of the hearth 13. The opening of the fireplace is indicated by the vertical sections of masonry facing at 14 and 15, and the horizontal upper edge at 16'. The diagonally disposed inner sides are seen at 17 and 18, with the vertically disposed lower portion of the back wall at 19, and the forwardly sloping upper back wall section at 20. Also well shown in Figure l is a handle member 21 which is pivoted at 22 centrally of the upper edge of the front panel 10 and is terminated upwardly in a ring portion 23 which is engageaole with a hook member, 24 in Figure 4, as will be later explained.

In the plan view of Figure 2, the manner in which the front panel 10 is extended rearwardly to provide a flat, horizontally disposed bottom section 41 is readily seen. Also seen in Figure 2 are the vertically disposed diagonal side members 25 and 26 which are fastened to the front.

wardly extended from the bottom section 41, and secured by the nuts 33 and 34.

As is best seen in Figures 3 and 4, the vertically disposed back panel 42 of the container assembly is folded along its upper edge 43 around a rod member 44 to which it is fixedly attached, and the round ends of the rod 44 are extended through bores in the side members 25 and 26 as is better seen in Figure 2, thus providing journal sections on which the sides and the bottom attached thereto are adapted to rotate upwardly. In Figure 2 it will also be seen that the rod 44 is outwardiy c.1- tendcd at its ends in fiat-sided portions 45 and 45 which are generally square in cross sectional conformation as shown at 45 in Figure 5, and are received by brackets 47 and 48 in Figure 2 and 47 in Figure 5 which have square slots therein, such as 49 in Figure 5 and are fixedly attached to the sidewalls 17 and 18 of the fireplace by means of screw fasteners indicated at 53.

Since the slots 49 of the brackets 47 and 48 are conformated to mate snugly with the square ends portions 45 and 46 of the rod 44, and the rod 44 in turn is fixedly attached to the back member 42, it can be seen that the back member 42 will be maintained in a substantially vertical position regardless of the angular position to which the rest of the container assembly is rotated, thus permitting ashes and residual material to fall through the opening between the back 42 and the bottom 41 as indicated at arrow 50 in Figure 4. The ash dump door 51 is then opened and the ashes moved from the surface of the hearth 13 through the aperture indicated by the arrows 52 in Figure 4 into the ash receiving compartment provided below the hearth.

The bracket members, in the embodiment shown in Figure 5, are adapted for attachment to the sidewalls of the fireplace by the screws 53, and in the alternate form illustrated in Figure 6 they are provided with a plurality of welding lugs extended outwardly from each side, as at 54 and 55, by which they may be welded to the surfaces of fireplace sidewalls conformed entirely of metal.

For use in fireplaces of greater than average width, extension spacers are provided as shown at 56 in Figure 7. As can be seen, the spacer 56 is conformed of round rod and has a fiat-sided extension 57 at one end thereof adapted to fit within the square slot 49 of the bracket member 47, and opening from the opposite end it has a square axial bore 58 adapted to receive the flat-sided end 45 of the rod 44. It will be observed that the axial bore 58 is deeper than is necessary to fully receive the end 45 of the rod 44, and the adapter is made to fit the particular width of any fireplace by cutting off the sleeve portion 59 at the proper distance from the shoulder 60 at which it abuts with the inwardly disposed face of the bracket 47.

A hook member 24 in Figures 3 and 4 is fixedly attached in the top of the fireplace adjacent the chimney 5 opening, and is adapted to engage the eye portion 23 of the handle member 21 when the container assembly is rotated upwardly as shown in Figure 4. Inward pressure upon the handle 21 causes the eye 23 to rotate outwardly relative to the pivot point 22, thereby disengaging the hook 24.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention will occur to those skilled in the art after a careful study hereof. All such, properly within the basic spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included and comprehended herein as fully as if specifically described, illustrated and claimed herein.

The exact compositions, configurations, constructions, relative positionings, and cooperative relationships of the various component parts of the present invention are not critical, and can be modified substantially within the spirit of the present invention.

The embodiments of the present invention specifically described and illustrated herein are exemplary only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present inven- Lil 4 tion, which is to be interpreted in the light of the prior art and the appended claims only, with due consideration for the doctrine of equivalents.

I claim:

1. A movable firebox for use in a fireplace, comprising: a shallow box-like container of non-combustible material having a substantially horizontally positioned bottom, an upstanding laterally directed front wall, an upstanding laterally directed back wall having a top edge and terminating in a left back wall end and a laterally spaced right back wall end, an upstanding left sidewall extending from said front wall to said left back wall end and terminating in a rear left sidewall end, and an upstanding right sidewall extending from said front wall to said right back wall end and terminating in a rear right side wall end; underlying downwardly depending leg means mounted adjacent said front wall; said left back wall end having a left stud member non-rotatably fixed thereto and outwardly extended therefrom and substantially parallel to said top edge of said back wall; said right back wall end having a right stud member non-rotatably fixed thereto and outwardly extended therefrom and substantially aligned with said left stud member; said rear left sidewall end and said rear right sidewall end being similarly rotatably mounted on said left and right stud members, respectively; a left supporting bracket fixedly mounted adjacent said left stud member and non-rotatably engaged therewith; a right supporting bracket fixedly mounted adjacent said right stud member and nonrotatably engaged therewith; said container being provided with handle means positioned forwardly thereof for convenient manual access from the front of said container; said container means being provided with securing means; and hanger means fixedly mounted arcuately above said securing means and defining an arcuate upper limit of movement of said bottom, front wall, left sidewall, and right sidewall portions of said container around said fixed left and right stud members and away from the fixed upstanding back wall of said container and controllably removably securingly engaged with said securing means when said bottom, front wall, left sidewall, and right sidewall are positioned at said arcuate upper limit of movement.

2. The combination of a fireplace and a pivotally movable and self-cleaning firebox therein, comprising: fireplace means including an underlying substantially horizontal hearth portion, an inclined overhead and chimney portion, an upstanding rear wall portion, a left sidewall portion and a laterally spaced right sidewall portion defining therebetween a fireplace chamber open at the front thereof; a shallow box-like container of non-combustible material mounted Within said fireplace chamber and having a substantially fiat substantially horizontally positioned bottom, an upstanding laterally directed front wall, an upstanding laterally directed back wall having a top edge and terminating in a left back wall end and a laterally spaced right back wall end, an upstanding left sidewall extending from said front wall to said left back wall end and terminating there in a rear left sidewall end, and an upstanding right sidewall extending from said front wall to said right back wall end and terminating there in a rear right sidewall end; underlying downwardly depending leg means mounted adjacent said front wall; said left back wall end having a left stud member non-rotatably fixed thereto and outwardly extended therefrom and substantially aligned with said top edge of said back wall; said right back wall end having a right stud member non-rotatably fixed thereto and outwardly extended therefrom and substantially aligned with said left stud member; said rear left sidewall end and said rear right sidewall end being similarly rotatably mounted on said left and right stud members, respectively; a left supporting bracket fixedly mounted on said left sidewall portion of said fireplace means adjacent said left stud member and non-rotatably engaged 5 with said left stud member; a right supporting bracket fixedly mounted on said right sidewall portion of said fireplace means adjacent said right stud member and non-rotatably engaged with said right stud member; said front wall being provided with handle means positioned forwardly of said front wall for convenient manual access through the open front of said fireplace chamber; said handle means being provided with securing means; and hanger means fixedly carried by said overhead portion of said fireplace means above and in the arcuate path of travel of said securing means and defining an arcuate upper limit of movement of said bottom, front wall, left sidewall, and right sidewall portions of said container around said fixed left and right stud members and away from the fixed upstanding back wall of said container and controllably removably securingly engaged with said securing means when said bottom, front wall, left sidewall, and right sidewall are positioned at said arcuate upper limit of movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

